Is Roger the sadist in the novel Essay
by LyraBlack99
Summary: Is Roger the only sadist in the story or are there more? Read to find out!


While I do agree that Roger has become known as "the sadist in the novel" at the end of the novel, he is not the only sadist on the island. Jack, Ralph and even Piggy and all the boys on the island even Simon, too are sadists in the novel, seeing as they do have moments where their actions and thoughts are warped. We can see this from four moments in the novel. We can see this from how Roger tries to frighten the littluns, Roger telling Jack that there was a better way to torture people, Ralph's participation in the mock killing of the pig, Robert and the boys taking part in the killing of Simon. Their warped way of thinking and acting on the island clearly shows their sadistic nature that had been held back by civilization.

Firstly we see can see hints of Roger's sadistic nature even before he had completely turned into a savage. Right before the hunters managed to successfully kill their first pig, Roger led the way "straight through the castles", later, "Maurice followed". He had purposely destroyed the sandcastle even though he knew that it would hold some sort of importance to the littluns. His actions had caused Johnny to become distraught and cry. Seeing this Maurice had felt some kind of guilt as he had "hurried away" and "Maurice still felt the unease of wrong-doing", but there was no such feeling in Roger. In fact, when he saw that Henry, one of the littluns present, not being affected by having his plaything destroyed, he seemed to be quite unsatisfied and "followed him, keeping beneath the palms", just outside of Henry's field of vision. This seems to give us the impression that Roger was not quite satisfied with Henry not getting upset and sought to hurt him, or at least trying to make him upset. He then came up with an idea when clusters of nuts dell about him, he thought of throwing stones at Henry to make him feel fear. However, this did not turn out as he had hoped as "round the squatting child (Henry), was the protection of parents and schools and policeman and the law", and "the stones did not land" on Henry as "Roger's arm was conditioned by a civilization". We can tell that Roger's sadistic nature was coming out the longer he stayed on the island unbound by rules, telling us that mankind is inherently evil and sadistic by nature if we were not governed by laws and rules. Therefore Roger is the sadist in the novel.

Secondly, we can see that Roger is the sadist in the novel as he seems to enjoy hurting the other boys around him. When Roger returned to Castle Rock, Robert had told him that Jack was "going to beat Wilfred" for no apparent reason. Instead of questioning it, it actually made Roger respect Jack more, even going on to say that "(Jack's) a proper Chief". He had also "received this news (of Jack going to beat Wilfred for no reason) as an illumination". It caused Roger to "(assimilate) the possibilities of irresponsible authority" allowing him to think that torturing people for no apparent reason was nothing out of the ordinary and instead was something that could be done for entertainment's sake. Later on, when Jack's tribe of savages had caught Samneric, as Jack "poked Sam in the ribs", Roger stepped up to Jack and said, "that's not the way". Later on, both Samneric told Ralph that the one he should fear is Roger, not Jack. They said that Roger, "He's a terror". From this, we can tell that Roger seems to have become an expert at torturing people as he stopped Jack when the "prodding became rhythmic" and most probably used other ways to get both Samneric to not only switch sides but to also disclose Ralph's hiding place. Therefore we can tell that Roger is the sadist in the novel as he seems to take pleasure in getting to torture the other boys around him.

Thirdly, we can tell that Ralph and Simon too were having violent tendencies when they were on the island. This can be seen when they go looking for the beast only to end up unsuccessfully trying to hunt the pig. At that moment, the text did not say the "hunters" but "presently they were all jabbing at Robert" even Simon and Ralph had let "the desire to squeeze and hurt (to become) overmastering. Ralph had also been "fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown vulnerable flesh". He was also so "carried away by a sudden thick excitement, (that he) grabbed Eric's spear and jabbed at Robert with it". All of these actions have led us to believe that even Ralph and Simon had given in to the temptation to hurt others. The both of them had even laughed at Jack's suggestion to "use a littlun" as a pretend pig to kill it. And seeing as "everybody (had) laughed"at the idea, it goes to show how every single one of us are capable of having sadistic thoughts and are capable of carrying them out in the thick of the moment. This goes to tell us that mankind is inherently evil and sadistic by nature. And it can be easily freed when it is not properly governed by the law, rules and society. Therefore Roger is not the only sadist in the novel as both Ralph and Simon can be sadistic as well.

Fourthly, we can see that the boys on the island have all turned sadistic. This can be seen from the brutal way the boys killed Simon. "The crowd (had) surged after it" and the boys had "leapt on to the beast, screamed struck, bit tore" into it. We also know that Piggy and Ralph were part of this crowd as "Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society". This tells us that everyone had taken part in the killing of young Simon. That "there were no words and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws". The boys had not used any of their spears but used their bare hands and teeth to maul and kill Simon. This sadistic and primitive way of acting tells us that the boys were all turning sadistic. Later on, Robert had "giggled excitedly" at the thought of Wilfred being tied up when just some time ago he had been making "frightened snivels" when the boys were pretending that he was the pig and had "really hurt him". Now, he was just excited at the thought of "(Jack) going to beat Wilfred" up. This tells us about the regression of the boy's morals as time passes on the island. This very clearly tells us that everyone is inherently evil and sadistic. Even Piggy who is logical and well civilized can commit such sadistic actions against another person. Therefore Roger is not the only sadist in the novel as all the boys on the island are sadistic.

In conclusion, while I do agree that Roger is a sadist in the novel with his warped way of thinking and acting, I also feel that all the other boys on the island too are sadistic. Roger and Jake are obviously sadists as they beat up and torture others for entertainment and satisfaction. The other boys on the other hand like Ralph, Piggy and Simon being sadists is quite shocking, seeing as the three of them are trying to be civilized on the island. This goes to tell us that all humans are inherently evil and sadistic and that we are barely restraining this nature with the laws and rules and society. After all, all the boys seem to somehow regain their humanity when they were confronted with the Admiral. Thus, I do not think that Roger is the sadist in the novel.


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